Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story

Hey everyone!! I am new to this site and I am looking forward to meeting new people who have had WLS or are thinking about having surgery. I have documented my journey and wanted to share them with you so that you can get to know me. Today I am currently 2 months post op and like I said, I am down 72 pounds which is just amazing to me how quickly the weight is coming off. I know it will vary from week to week. Looking forward to meeting you and hope to hear some positive feedback https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5L9G2TJCrigiofu3AlSZgQ Thanks for watching and let me know what you think! Wishing everyone a blessed weekend Kim

I thought this day would never come, today is finally my first appointment. I'm hoping within the next 3 months I will be sleeved:)

I like the granola bars but they do not really provide a good amount of protein. I am trying to get some ideas of really good protein bars that might be similar to quakers granola bars.

I'm 4 1/2 months out. HW 229, SW 214, current 160, surgery date 3/14 HW 229, SW 214, CW 160 RNY 3/14/13

It has been a long road that is for sure. I was banded in 2008 at 29 years old, I can not remember a time when I would describe myself as “skinny”. I attended my first weight watchers meeting at the age of 13. I was always “the big girl”. My starting weight with this journey was 291 pounds, I currently weigh 213. For the first 2 years after I was banded I followed the program the way I should have allowing a few slips here and there for special occasions. The 3rd year I was a little more lax but maintained my weight loss and fluctuated between 200 and 210. The last 2 years have been a disaster as far as my food choices. I am very lucky that I have not gained more than I h…

I had my surgery Tuesday and came home yesterday. I've found that I'm afraid to eat. I'm afraid of getting too full. I don't feel hungry at all. I've had about 2 oz of cream of mushroom soup yesterday afternoon and am drinking some water this morning. I know I have to get hydrated or I'll end up back in the hospital. I'm scared I won't know when I'm full and then I'll get sick. Does anyone have any advise?

Hello everyone, my name is Kyle I'm from St. Louis. I'm 26 and I had gastric bypass October 17, 2012. At my heaviest I weighed 530lbs and the day of surgery i weighed 495. As of today I currently weigh 305lbs. I have 90lbs to go till I hit my goal weight. I look forward meeting and talking with fellow wls peeps. lol The pic on the left is a few days before surgery and the one on the right is 6 months. I don't really have any current pics, but i'm sure i'll post more a one year.

Hello! My sleeve surgery was on August 6th. I am still in the hospital because very little is passing beyond my stomach. The surgeon believes that this is all due to swelling of my esophagus and new stomach. Has anyone experiences this? I am very nervous and frankly scared. There are no leaks, but for the first three days I was spitting up lots of blood. I was told for the sleeve they use a much bigger tube down the throat and it probably irritated and scraped it all up. Anyone have a similar situation? Please let me know....take care! Joan

what are you guyss eating ? any cheat days ?

Hello, my name is Patti. I just joined this site, I thought I could find some valuable information. I cannot make the support meeting due to my work schedule. I am scheduled for my surgery Sept. 16th and am so excited. I have had a 6 month wait due to my inusrance. Well, I just wanted to get started on here and I look forward to reading about everyones expierences and I hope to learn a lot and maybe meet some people.

I was originally banded in May 2008. I had a very successful start and lost about 90 pounds my first year. However, I had some circumstances that required me to be totally unfilled for an extended period of time, and I have gained back 35 pounds since last November!! I feel horrible! It is so depressing to have lost the weight and then put it back on. I feel worse now than I did at my highest weight before I had the surgery. I am going back to the Dr. for my first "starting over" fill this Thursday (7/15) and I am sooo excited! I am planning on using this site for support - something I did not do when I was initially banded. I think some of the complications I had could h…

So my surgeons Dr choi from montifiore and she seems like a very very honest straight to the point doc. She's never had any law suits , people ice spoken to that have had surgery with her say she's great and their doing great with their WLS . She works with doc camacho & valupani. Now I was doing some research on the other 2 surgeons that work with my surgeon and found out one of them had 4- lawsuits and 1 wrongful death. Now my surgeon hasn't had any lawsuits but her colleague has , should I be worried? And now I'm scared of being that 1#

My name is Heather and I am 29 years old. I am 3 years post surgery and I'm still a work in progress... Starting weight was almost 300 lowest was 149. Currently I weigh 162.3 I'm struggling because my boyfriend loves the happy non dieting me so he cooks. Size is no matter to him but I'm trying to work on it so as not to undo all of my hard work.I've lost 5.3 pounds this week and hope to keep succeeding. I am working on balancing my weight so I still love life and don't give up on myself

Hi all, for the last month I've been in full speed getting all the medical clearances needed for my surgery. However, the whole time I couldn't get past the fact that I have been diagnosed with Barrett's early on, even before I met with my bariatric surgeon for the first time. Barrett's is an inflammation of the esophagus which can lead to a cancerous state in a very small percentage of those affected, usually caused by GERD or chronic acid reflux but not always. The first time I met with my bariatric surgeon I told him straight off that I had Barrett's disease because i knew it could be an issue with getting banded and reaction was very cavalier. His only reaction was th…

My summer has been a mess taking off work then then kp getting surgery rescheduled this will be 3 EGD I this is my last one if surgery rescheduled ir wasn't meant to be I'm done I'm just I. A funk today my whole summer appointments no vacation no nothing !!!!!! Just needed to vent Mz Shay

I'm 2 years out of surgery and been having bad bouts of diarrhea (specifically 3 in the last 3 months). I've noticed a trend.... After I eat raw vegetables. It lasts about 24 hours with severe cramping each time. I guess I'm just wondering if this is in any way surgery related or just something else. I've never had these problems pre surgery.

Have you had hair loss with the surgery? If so, how much hair did you actually lose?

My entire life has been surrounded by food. All holidays are spent around the dinner table. All celebrations are done at a restaurant. I'm worried that my family won't get it. That I end up as another failure. That I will have leaking between staples. Have any of you felt this way? If so, how did you get over these feelings?

So I am currently a little over 10 months post op and am down 146 pounds. My starting weight was 333 and I am currently 187. My doctors set my goal weight at 180 to 200 but I set it for myself at 170 so I have 17 pounds to go. I know there's a huge controversy out there about pregnancy after weight loss surgery and how soon is too soon. In 2011 my husband and I tried for a baby for over a year before I decided to have this surgery. My obgyn said it was due to my weight that I could not get pregnant. I was completely devastated. I was pregnant with my first child when I was 18 a senior in highschool, she is now 5 years old. Being a mother is the best feeling in the world a…

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Well, it is 4am and I am getting ready to leave for the hospital in an hour. I am so nervous that my heart rate is 94! I guess I am scared about the unknown. How will I do after surgery? Will I be able to take in enough fluids? ........ Well, wish me luck and I will see you on the other side of being sleeved! Pat

I am currently 5 months out and have lost a total of 100 lbs since my HW...and 70 since surgery date. I feel so much better but still have some work to do.

I was cleared for surgery by my pulmonary doc but feeling kinda confused as to why he didn't send me to get a sleep test. He did ask if anyone has ever told me that I stop breathing while sleeping and no one ever told me until I was talking about it with my boy friend and he said out of no where "yea I think a couple times I've seen you kinda stop breath for seconds." Ugh! Why didn't he say this before???? Lol anyway.. I feel that I may have it but now I'm cleared by pulmonary for surgery. He said my breathing looks normal. He also gave X-ray test of my chest and it came back fine so now I'm confused about having the sleep test or not. If my breathing results look fine sh…

Dear all, Well let me tell you my story. I am currently a 30 years old woman who is happily married to a man I love. If you ask me what is the reasom behind all this, well it is simple. I took a decision to have a life or at least die trying. Three years ago I decided to do the lap band surgery operation. I was always over weight , i was obsesed by being fat. I would sit on the toilet and with a marker mark where my belly is on my thighs. I would crash diet for weeks and lose up to 12KG and then gain them back in a blink of an eye. I used to go shopping for clothes and nothing would fit me, not even boots. I had an emotional eating disorder. I would eat when i am happy…

So ive posted here a few times. I actually had a surgery date for july 29. Well that days has come n gone. I was rescheduled due to some precious heart stuff. My official date is wed. Aug 14. Tomorrow is my laat day of work 3 weeks. How long did everyone stay off work

I just want to say that Debra at Weight No More (coordinator for Dr Ponce) has been a great help to me and she wasn't my coordinator! She went out of her way to help me even though I didn't pay her - my popular Mexican coordinator (that I paid) flat out said no and made a lame excuse. Debra is out of Canada but got the info I needed from Dr Ponce on one of her trips to Mexico. Thanks to her I can expect around $1000 to $1500 back from Alberta Health Care for out of country services. If not for her I would be getting nothing. She went out of her way to help me for nothing in return - a good Canadian! Thanks Debra!

Hi everyone, My mom has gastric bypass a few yrs ago and lost 80 pds despite needing to loose 120. Unfortunately, after that my cousin died tragically in a accident, my uncle died from cancer and she was diagnosed with cancer. She has now put on 35 pounds after all these tragic events so after her oncologist gave her the green light, we went back to her WLS surgeon. He suggested the best option now is a lapband over her bypass. We never heard of it! Has anyone heard of it here? Experiences, results more importantly safety?? We appreciate your help! I just was banded so once I recover, I want to take care of her. Thanks so much

Hello all! I was banded almost 6 weeks ago and had my first fill today. Most of my friends and family are unaware that I've had surgery at all. I started telling a select few people, and received a lot of push back - people thought it was drastic, unnecessary, they didn't think I was all that big (but I had a BMI of 39!) and felt like it was dangerous. I already made up my mind and realized my circle of people would ultimately cause me stress - they didn't realize I wasn't asking for their opinion, just their support! I have struggled with weight since I was about 10 years old, but worked really hard from 14-28 to keep most of it off. I used to think I was fa…

Hi...I have surgery scheduled for the 19th...10 DAYS!!! I found this forum for some support. I am very excited to get the surgery but I am awaiting my insurance approval. Haven't heard anything from the surgeons office so I'm guessing no news is good news . Pre-Op on August 14th!!!!

I just got off the phone with my insurance Company..... My band is approved. I am so excited. So scared .... So nervous.... So ready.... Lol.

My Surgery Was Successful Giving GOD ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY FOR IT. AND THANKS TO ALL MY LOVED ONES WHO PRAYED FOR ME. Also, Dr Christopher Reilly was Great as well as ALL THE STAFF AT WEST HOUSTON MEDICAL WHO CARED FOR ME. LovePeaceJoy!!!<br />Q3Carla721

Hello, im 4 yrs in as a "bander"... my surgery date weight was 254, and I am down to 213... stuck! The entire summer I have worked out almost everyday, walking anywhere from two to five mile. I just completed water Zomba class, added a few weights, & a Zumba class. With all this being said, I have lost absolutely no weight in almost 2 years ! Very discouraged very discouraged! I believe I'm having some problems, can't seem to get anything down, everything is getting stuck. This is the second time in a year this is happened, I've had some fluid taken out each time. It works for a little while, then I'm right back at square one. I seem to think my plateau is because I'…

Hello, im 4 yrs in as a "bander"... my surgery date weight was 254, and I am down to 213... stuck! The entire summer I have worked out almost everyday, walking anywhere from two to five mile. I just completed water Zomba class, added a few weights, & a Zumba class. With all this being said, I have lost absolutely no weight in almost 2 years ! Very discouraged very discouraged! I believe I'm having some problems, can't seem to get anything down, everything is getting stuck. This is the second time in a year this is happened, I've had some fluid taken out each time. It works for a little while, then I'm right back at square one. I seem to think my plateau is because I'…

It's been 3 months since my surgery and the experience thus far still amazes me. It must admit it was hard at first. You have to start thinking like a small person. Everything that you use to eat you can hang it up. I find myself looking at food that would have never been enough to fill me up and I am just overwhelmed. Like how did I eat all that before! More water intake now than EVER. I feel great. My energy level is much better. My kids and their friends workout with me and it makes working out so much fun. In the beginning I was sick a lot couldn't eat was barely getting fluids in and I found myself wondering if I made the right decision. If it's hard for you now don'…

Hi!! I was wanting to try to find someone that used/ is using Dr. Bledsoe in Alexandria, la. As their surgeon.

Well, today is day 3 of my preop diet. So far I am down 7 pounds...all liquid, but hey, 7 pounds is 7 pounds. The shakes flavor have alot to be desired but I am making the best of it and adding some fruits here and there to make them a little better. I ordered some of the Unjury Chicken soup...that should be here tomorrow. Sure hope it is as good as everyone says. I can defiantely feel the effects of not eating near what I used to...a little weak. But keeping my shakes going with an ocassional sugar free Jello and plenty of water. I got this...bring it on!

I finally heard back from the surgeon's office and received a date for my surgery. I will begin my new journey to a healthy life on Oct 7. Nine weeks and counting. I am really excited about this time in my life. I have been overweight all of my life and now I will have a new tool to loose the weight.

Hi everyone, My mom had bypass a few yrs ago and lost 80 pds but she needed to loose 120. She did put back on 35 because unfortunately she dealt with a lot of stress with my young cousin dying tragically, my uncle dying dying from cancer and finally her being diagnosed with cancer herself. Now that her oncologist said, she could go back to her WLS surgeon. He tells her he wants to perform this operation- put a band over her bypass. Did any of you ever hear of that? He swears its a great option! Has any of you had it or heard of someone who did? My moms been through so much so I don't want to jump on something we just "heard" of. Any help is appreciated

Surgery set for September 25th!!!! A flood of emotions has just kicked in..... Excited, happy, elated, emotional, nervous!!!!

Past pych and all other test..just waiting on insurance..so excited...

My surgery was on May 20, 2013. I lost 20 pounds before the surgery and have lost 35 since. I feel great. I already know this was the best decision I have ever made!!! I am happier than I have ever been.

I had the privilege to meet a fellow sleever the other day by the name of Jason. Very sweet guy with ultra sweet parents (mom made my heart melt). Anyway, Jason has been unfortunately experiencing the downside of this surgery, at no fault of his own. He's been in my heart and mind since the day we spoke. I don't know how he is in his alone time, but while talking to him, he never came across as "woe is me" or trying to have a pity party about his situation. We talked and he, despite all he has been through, still had a good spirit about him. I'm posting this to ask as a Special one of a kind FAMILY, we come together and lift Jason, as well as our other "cousins" (you know…

My story starts in July of 2010. I received my Lap-Band on the 23rd. My surgery was performed by Gerald Kirshenbaum in Denver, Colorado. He said it went well after the surgery but mentioned that my liver was lacerated during retraction and he had to repair a hiatal hernia. He felt that the laceration was no big deal because it stopped bleeding before he ended. Fast forward 8 weeks and 20 pounds less. I started having stomach cramps, vomiting and body aches. Dr. K's office felt I was having after effects of having food stuck. It lasted five days before I couldn't take the cramps and went to the ER. After blood work and CT scan I was sent home with no diagnosis except …

Am I heavy enough? I was 200 but lost using phentermine but have been yo yoing for 7yrs after having my daughter. I have always struggled with my weight but at 41 I am desperate to loose the 65lbs to be 120 again

I was banded on August 2nd, 2013 by Dr. Ginsburg. My journey started in November of 2012, with lots of hoops to jump through, but it was well worth it. The hardest part right now is getting a good night's sleep. I just can't get comfortable. Pretty sure it is my port sight that is keeping me up. Hurts to turn or bend. Doing ok with my liquid diet. Can't wait for the mushy's. Trying to not drink my protein shake to fast or too slow.

I'm trying to figure this out. I lost 7 pounds pre op then when I came home a day later I gained 9 lbs. Is this normal. is it from all the saline they gave me ? I checked my weight again and its still up the 9 lbs. What do you think?

I was sleeved in July of last year, and in 13 months l am down 180lbs.. Ive been training, and next week l will be running my first official 5K... Im excited!!

Is this normal??? My surgery was July 23rd. It is hard to put one foot in front of the other at times. Other than that, I feel fine. Please share your experiences!

I've had one Dr. appt. in 2011 for WLS. This Dr. recommended Vertical Sleeve for me. It sounds better than the Lapband and G bypass. But since that visit, I've heard bad things about the hospital where the surgery is performed. I really want the surgery but I'm unsure of the facility. Can anybody recommend a good facility in N.California. I'm 59, Female, BMI 39. Sleep Apnea, High Lipid. Insurance Preapproved.

Maybe somebody on here can help me out... Per my insurance I have to have 3 consecutive months of weight loss documentation. So my first month I saw my PCP was June, I saw her July and I see her next week. So to me that would be 3 months. But when I've asked people in the bariatric program some say its in 3 months (June July aug) and someone else told me it has to be June-July (1 month) July-aug ( 2 month) aug-sept (3 month). ** I'm just a little confused, has anyone had this problem?**